Startup funding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region fell sharply in June 2025, totaling US$52 million raised across 37 deals.

This marks an 82% decline from May 2025 and a 55% decrease from June 2024.

The UAE led regional funding with US$37 million raised by 13 startups, which accounted for over 70% of the total capital.

In contrast, Egypt, which topped the charts in May 2025, secured US$6.2 million across six deals.

Tunisia ranked third, boosted by a US$3.5 million seed round from water generation startup Kumulus.

Fintech dominated with 74% of the capital, followed by cleantech and Web3, which raised US$2 million across two rounds.

Early-stage startups remained prominent, with seed-stage companies securing US$10.6 million from 11 deals.

Seed and pre-seed deals remained active, while only one series A round was recorded at US$100,000.

Business-to-business (B2B) startups received 78% of the funding across 21 deals.

Hybrid B2B2C startups raised US$9.7 million, while business-to-consumer (B2C) startups gathered under US$1.5 million across eight rounds.

The significant decline in funding during June 2025 suggests a potential recalibration of the MENA startup ecosystem amid global economic uncertainty and tightening liquidity.

🔗 Source: Wamda

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ MENA’s pronounced funding volatility reflects emerging market growing pains

June’s dramatic 82% month-on-month funding drop to $52 million follows two months of strong performance, demonstrating the region’s extreme funding volatility 1.

This pattern of sharp fluctuations is characteristic of the MENA ecosystem. For example, April 2025 saw $228 million raised (a 105% increase from March), followed by May’s $289 million (a 25% increase from April), before June’s steep decline 2, 3.